Madison's Story
by PrincessH
Summary: .:.ABANDONED.:. This is the story of Madison Evans and Dean Portman. She was only looking for a hookup but what if a certain Duck stole her heart in the process. PortmanOC Lang warning and probably some adult situs.
1. Prologue: Tammy Duncan

So what's so special about Tammy Duncan? Just because she's blonde, beautiful and smart the world has to give her all this attention, I mean suddenly everything's got to be about her? I mean really, you're going to make her head swell. So what is really so special about her?

I ask myself that everyday, sometimes twice since the day I met her. Not really because it matters to me but because it bothers me that she can be perfect and get away with it. She can get away with almost anything. She's like one of those preppy cheerleaders that most of you went to high school with. You know, the one you just want to punch in the face for being so happy. Did I mention my brother is engaged to her? Oh yeah, so I'm stuck with her for the rest of my life unless some foolproof plan to get rid of her arises. Doubtful, very doubtful considering she's perfect and all. My brother's in love with her, my father's in love with her, hell, even my mother is in love with her. she shakes her head with annoyance Why don't they just all go get married and leave me out of it. That's where my journey begins, I'm Madison Evans and this is MY story.

Flight 103 from Los Angeles to Minneapolis took a violent shake from the storm forming outside its window.

"Damn, I'm gonna have brain damage by the time we get there!" I yelled, rubbing my head as it hit the window for the third time in the past three hours.

"Watch your mouth! How many times do I have to tell you to act like a lady?" My Mother, a short, plump woman sat in the seat next to me, trying to concentrate on the movie being shown, Casablanca. Who watches these movies anymore? I didn't last five minutes into it before dozing off only to be awoken with a bang to the head. Why did I have to fly all the way out here in the first place? To god knows, Minnesota, to skate, something my Mother had been breeding me to do since birth, in a competition with HER name on it. I mean what really is so special about Tammy Duncan? I'll admit, I'm not the prettiest girl in the world and she is prettier than me but still, are looks everything these days? Has the world really become that shallow? Once all the training and man-hours paid off at the Olympics it's been, Tammy this and Tammy that. She's good, don't get me wrong, they don't give out medals to idiots but really, a Wheaties box? It turned into the Tammy show in just 24 hours. The gold medal hadn't even been taken off her neck yet and suddenly it's all about her, her emotional turmoil, her family problems, her wedding, and suddenly her hometown. Please someone hold the bucket while I hurl. No one deserves that much attention. So why does she get it?

The plane landed about 15 minutes later into the cold air of Minnesota. How do people live here, I asked myself, shivering with the wind hitting me? California was so much warmer and nicer and it never snowed there. I shivered again, wrapping my sweater around my shoulders. Okay, so it wasn't fashionable but who cares, I was cold! It wasn't like I was looking to get picked up by anyone in the airport anyways, especially in this town.

"Is it supposed to be this frickin' cold?" I groaned hugging myself tightly.

"Madison, I swear, one more and we're heading home." My mother shot a look in my direction.

"Really?" I wondered out loud with a grin plastered on my face. That's all I wanted was to go home, could it really be possible?

"Do you want to ruin your brother's big day?" She asked as I sulked, my brother was actually the one person I was getting along with as of late. He had been there for me and I would be there for him when the princess dumps him on his ass. My mother headed in front of me to hail a cab at the sidewalk. The plane ride had not only been dangerous but annoyingly long as well. I had listened to every CD in my collection once and even listened to Metallica twice to pass the time. I also found time to conveniently tap my fingers on the plastic trays they give you to eat on, annoying my Mother in her movie enjoyment even more. When she turned to tell me to stop, I turned away, looking out the window at the darkened sky and pretending not to notice her glaring eyes reflecting in the window glass.

Do you ever wonder if maybe you're in the wrong family? I wonder this all the time. My brother, although away a lot, seems to be the one I most relate to. My father has his moments and my mother and I never get along. I swear she's a complete psycho. I will almost guarantee that she's killed someone in her days. Okay, well, maybe not that far but she's not as sweet and innocent as she seems, I can tell you that. Maybe I'll be crazy too when I pop a couple out. The whole experience in my opinion is traumatic enough to make you go crazy.

So here we are, my mother, a short light-haired woman with aging skin, bouncing on the balls of her feet to hail a cab that isn't coming. Her hands flying in the air like a crazed monkey. She looked ridiculous, I thought with a deep sigh, sitting on my trunk. She said I looked stupid in my knee-high boots, fishnets and plaid skirt. Let's talk about her old-lady clothes, the sweater that looks to have been sewn together by a small child with it's bows and ribbons and her loafer shoes with the little tassels on them. It's so horrible, I can't even continue without getting a migraine. I will never dress like that; I don't care how old I am.

So a cab finally arrived after 10 minutes of waiting and the embarrassing scene that was taking place with my mother. I stood slowly to reach for my trunk and the cab driver rushed over to help me,

"I get that miss." He said with a heavy accent.

"No, I've got it!" I said trying to smile politely at his tanned face.

"Really, is not trouble." He insisted. I was getting irritated at that moment.

"I'm really fine." I reassured him. We each had hold of one end and were trying to take it from the other one, my mother stood by, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Really, let go!" I said a little louder. He continued to insist and I finally let go, falling backwards onto the ground and tripping over some else's bags. My skirt flipped up, my hair ruffled and my heel broke. Sitting up, I tried to stand before realizing my heel was gone.

"Damn it!" I yelled grabbing at my shoe. "These were my favorite heels." I whined.

"So, sorry, miss. Let me help you." The cab driver tried to help me up. I pulled away, getting up and heading for the car, yelling some profanities that my mother covered her mouth at. She smiled graciously at the cab driver and the onlookers.

"We think she's got Tourette's Syndrome. She's being tested." She smiled graciously again. The moment the door to the cab closed, I was going to hear about it.


	2. Chapter 1: Not So Perfect

It was no use, even with the stickiest chewing gum I could find, my heel would not reattach to the bottom of my boot.

"Damn." I hissed through gritted teeth, I sighed. My Mother shot me a look that could kill, "Sorry." I mumbled, sitting back into the bucket of the cab seat. The drive seemed longer than I had expected and the cab smelled of cigarettes and some funky smelling perfume. Maybe some old lady perfume, you know the kind that smells of mothballs and fabric softener, if you're lucky, otherwise it smells like cats and body odor. Maybe it was my Mother's perfume, but I didn't think so. Staring out the window, I found the city of Minneapolis to be kind of dull. There were no clubs; no funky looking little shops to buy vintage clothes in, and no unique restaurants, just a little beat up diner and an old sports store. Who lived here? People born in the Sixties? The thought escaped my mind as the arena we were heading to, came into sight.

"It's tiny!" I gasped with repulsion, my Mother shot me another look with her death ray eyes. "What? I'm not allowed to talk now?" I asked confused at her expression. She shook her head in annoyance before rolling her eyes, stepping out of the cab. I sighed deeply, throwing my heel into my purse, I'd deal with it later when I could get a minute.

Did you ever try to walk on a boot with no heel? It just feels wrong. Like someone turned your toes up to the air and your calf is bent way too far. Well, try walking on that with a large trunk dragging behind you and your Mother telling you what a disgrace to the family you are.

"I can't believe you! What are people to tell about you anyway? Heaven knows what they think about me already." She ranted just for the sake of ranting. I swear the woman just liked to hear herself talk more than anything else.

We walked slowly down the dimly lit hall of the washed-up arena and there was the princess now, trying to stretch out her muscles on the cold concrete floor. She leant forward, her blonde hair falling ever so perfectly into her face to block it from view. God, she made me sick sometimes. Looking up, she flashed us the perfect smile and I grinned sarcastically.

"Tammy!" My mother shrieked with delight, making me want to gag. See what I mean about how my family loves her. Sometimes I think my Mother likes Tammy more than me and I'm her own daughter.

"Mrs. Evans." She said in her sweetest voice. You could tell she was faking it. They hugged and I looked the other way. How could anyone be such a suck up, not to mention in love with themselves?

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Mom?" My Mother cooed affectionately. I skulked over to where they were standing and made a gagging noise to let my presence be known; Tammy smiled warmly as if I hadn't done anything wrong.

"Madison, how nice to see you." She said still smiling. I'm sure, I thought to myself. She never even associated with me at the school and she only really talked to me when she had to. I rolled my eyes,

"I wouldn't _dream_ of being anywhere else." The remark was dripping with distain. I sighed and skulked off towards what I presumed to be my dressing room down the hall without another word. I heard them continue to ramble on about wedding plans and every other thing they could think of as I changed my shoes and decided to sneak out back for a smoke before the show. I never smoked in front of my Mother; she would kill me. Peeking my head out of my dressing room door, I made sure they were gone before heading in the direction we came in towards the back of the arena.

"Thinks she can bully me around..." I mumbled to myself, pulling the pack from my back pocket. I was nearly to the door when it flew open and a man stood there looking at me.

His dark hair hung over the bandana that was wrapped around the crown of his head and hung loosely to his sweat ridden forehead. Wearing a tank top and a pair of baggy jeans, he smiled slightly in my direction before heading farther into the arena, wiping a stray hair from his neck. My knees felt weak and a cold sweat crept up my back, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. He was so cute, my mind kept repeating to itself.

"Wait a minute, I'm Madison Evans. Boys stare at me, not the other way around." I said confidently to myself, marching after him. I might as well get a date while I was here, the trip wouldn't be a complete loss then. I marched around the corner almost running into a shorter man with longer black hair, wrapped in a loose cloth.

"Sorry." I mumbled looking around him towards the guy I had been drooling over, he was now surrounded my 4 girls, laughing and pretending to understand his jokes. I rolled my eyes, chicken heads...definitely. For those of you who don't know what a chicken head is, I'm not going to explain it, just know it's someone who has a lot of guy friends for a reason and tends to not stay with one long for a number of reasons. I could never be friends with those types of people. I've only really known two of them in my life and no; Tammy was definitely not one of them. She was many things, but I could never call her that. No matter how much I hated her.

I really get off track easily, so you'll just have to bear with me here. Going back to what I was saying, the guy; the one I wanted, was surrounded by a bunch of chicken heads looking to get with him. How dare they? I thought silently. Stepping back a minute I thought about this last statement, He didn't even know me, one of these girls could be his girlfriend and I wouldn't know it, hell I couldn't even speak back there, I was so weakened by his presence.

"Hey, Portman, Let's go!" The man standing next to me yelled back at him. He smiled, unfazed by his buddy's request and nodded a little,

"In a minute." The shorter man scoffed and turned the corner to head down the next hall towards the arena entrance. I watched the events contemplating my next move and finally decided to follow the shorter man and try to flirt with him to get him to give my number to his friend.

"Hey, wait up!" I yelled after him, trying to run with my backside still hurting from the fall. I wobbled a little. His face lit up into a smile from the sight and he suppressed a laugh.

"You okay there?" He asked, still smiling. I scowled at him,

"Excuse me, I happened to fall at airport, severely hurting myself, not that it's any of your concern." I stuck my nose up in the air and puffed out my chest a little.

"Wow, I've only met one person in my life that was more of a brat than you." He said starting to walk away.

"Hey, I was talking to you." I yelled, continuing to follow him. I was fuming from his comment. I wasn't a brat. He stopped, groaning a little bit at being bothered.

"Look lady, I've already had a hell of a week, unless it's an emergency, I'm in a hurry here."

"Look, I'm sorry. We got off on the wrong foot. I'm Madison Evans, you know, Scott Evans' sister?" I tried to smile warmly, still feeling the sting from his earlier accusation. His face turned into one of questioning before extending a hand to me,

"Fulton Reed." He said softly, still searching my face for something. I stared back at him for a minute before letting go of his hand. They were rough to the touch and he smelled of soap and wood, a bitter combination, I thought.

"Let me guess, this has something to do with him?" He asked pointing back in Portman's direction.

"Well, sort of. You see, I was wondering if you'd mind passing my number along to him." He rolled his eyes a little bit, he must get this request a lot, I thought.

"Just give it to me I'll give it to him." He sighed heavily as I giggled a little pulling out a pen from my back pocket and a notepad from my purse. I scribbled my cell phone number down and handed it to him.

"Thanks." I waved a little running off towards my locker room. That's when I heard her voice.

She sighed deeply, heading back towards the locker room after insisting that my Mother take her seat in the stands before they were all filled. Her hair was starting to fall down out of her clip and ever so perfectly; she went to pull it back up. As she turned the corner she stopped, spotting Fulton at the other end of the hall talking to me. She saw me pass a note to him and her face reddened with anger. Was the princess mad? I thought, keeping the door open a crack to see what was going on. Obviously she knew this guy. They smiled at each other a little before the air erupted into an argument

"Geez, I come here for the show and I keep getting stopped every five minutes. What can I do for you Ms. Duncan?" He asked sarcastically. Tammy sneered at him,

"Nothing, except maybe fall off a cliff. Why don't you just hit on every girl you come in contact with?" She asked, her face reddening even more and heat up with anger. He smiled,

"You're jealous. I wasn't sure the last time but now I'm positive. It wasn't Carrie's age or you being worried about me. Or the fact that Scott's sister Madison - who so kindly introduced herself to me - was talking to me. You just can't handle me being with anyone but you." Fulton smiled again, the reality finally hitting him.

"You're full of yourself aren't you?"

"Look in the mirror." He shot back at her. Finally someone to put her in her place.

"Oh, I've looked. It's obvious you haven't or you'd know how stupid you look!" She said raising her voice.

"Excuse me, Princess, we all couldn't have private tutors like you!" He yelled back. Someone else called her a princess as well?

"No, but they did make special classes for you!" She shot back. She really was a bitch. He stepped back a minute to compose himself before continuing,

"Look, my personal life is none of your business. Frankly, my entire life is none of your business, so why don't you quit following me around." He snapped.

"Me follow you? Try reading up on stalking before you accuse me of something you're doing."

"I'm stalking you? Who stuck their head in the ice cream cooler yesterday to avoid being spotted? May I add, again in the same store as me!" Fulton shouted now.

"I was looking for the light kind and it's always in the back! Not that I need to explain myself to the likes of you!" she poked her finger at his chest.

"No, just to the man you're intending to marry." He snapped. What did Scott have to do with this? Was there something more going on here? They obviously knew each other but was it more than they were letting on?

I turned away for a minute to think this over and when I turned back they were engaged in a snog fest to rival that of Vice President Gore and his wife during their campaign for the presidency. She tried to pull away but he held her head firmly in his grasp. She finally stopped fighting and grabbed the front of his jacket in her hands, twisting the fabric against her. They were really going at it, I thought. The opportunity to get rid of her had presented itself. I had Ms. Perfect right where I wanted her; all I had to do was find Scott. She began to push on his chest.

"Fulton, stop!" She whispered as he pulled away. They parted and stood as far away from each other as possible. There was a definite tension there and I could use this to my advantage. Maybe I wouldn't get rid of her right away, maybe I'd find a way to make her want to tell Scott instead. Maybe make her hate me in the process and make her life a living hell.

"This isn't getting us anywhere. Tammy, I need you either in my life completely or not at all." He said taking long strides to get away from her. She sighed deeply, pushing her perfect blonde hair from her face and beginning to shed some silent tears. In a way, I kind of felt bad for her. She must really care about him, I thought. Then what the hell is she doing with my brother? I asked myself. There was something bigger than the problems I have with Tammy going on here, and I was going to find out what. As quietly as possible, I shut the door with a click and slid down the back of it onto the floor. This was going to be fun.


	3. Chapter 2: Confrontation

Who wrote the script for this program? I want to know so I can go give them a piece of my mind and a boot up their ass. To put me, Madison Evans, after the Minnesota frickin' Miracle Bear! He can't even skate, it's just a gimmick for the kids! I mean really do you want people to get up and head for the bathroom right before my performance. I'm not that bad. It had to be Tammy who decided this, I can't believe her sometimes. Does she really hate me that much?

The lights went down in the arena and I felt my heart start to pound, it was time for me to take the ice. Glancing at my wardrobe once more before stepping out on the ice, I felt a cold shiver go up my spine in anticipation. All these people were looking at me, not that I was one to embarrass easily but what if I messed up, I had such a high standard to live up to with Scott being an gold medalist. Oh, someone just shoot me right now.

The music started up, I stepped gingerly on the ice using the toe pick of my skate to cut into the ice. A rock base to lead my way into my performance, I cut across the ice, my blade cutting a smooth line around the outside of the arena. My Mother's face off to the one side actually has a smile on it, despite the music, she thought this is a great performance. Wait a minute, did I actually just admit it matters to me what my Mother thinks of me? Well, maybe a little bit, I thought, going into another jump. In most cases, I wouldn't even waste the time on what my Mother thought of me but this was what she wanted of me, she wanted me to be the best singles skate there was. Scott had already dominated the pairs, why not have her other child dominate the singles. If only she had another son, she could throw him into the single male competition and make him win that one as well. The perfect little medal winning family, perfect in the eyes of the media. That's all she really cared about; what everyone else thought. I could care less. The ice was starting to make my bare legs feel stiff and it was becoming hard to move them being so cold. But I kept going, I would finish this performance just because I couldn't let anyone be better than me, even if I was skating after that stupid bear.

The song ended and I was standing in the center of the ice getting flowers thrown at me. Who throws flowers at people anyways? Who came up with that, what if I was skating off the ice and tripped on one or worse, they bring one with those stupid little plastic things to hold water on the end and it hits me in the head, knocking me senseless, I might forget who I am. Now that would be a shame.

Miss Perfect was standing over by the railing as I turned to skate off. I could see her blonde hair woven tightly into a bun at the top of her head, she looked like some sort of French poodle, who just got her hair done. I laughed a little to myself, covering my mouth with my hand to suppress the giggle from actually coming out. l glanced down to make sure I didn't trip over one of the damn flowers I was complaining about, silently making my way of the ice. When I looked up, she was gone from view.

No, not gone just on the ground, I realized rushing over to help. Hey, I might be mean but I'm not that mean. I certainly didn't wish she would just fall over and die, that's for sure. My Brother would be heart-broken.

The medics were at her side in a few seconds and I watched as they lifted her onto a stretcher to wheel her to the back. Stress, they jabbered on about. She must of knocked her head really good for her need this sort of assistance. Following them back, she was starting to come around from her unconscious state.

"I got it boys!" I assured them as she began to stir.

"Tammy?" Her eyes were fluttering and she gazed at the ceiling in a blank stare. "Tammy? Are you alright?" She looked up at me almost shocked I even cared enough to ask. Her eyes darted around me as if looking for someone else.

"What happened?" She asked still very confused.

"You just passed out, no doubt from all the stress you've been under..." I said smirking a little. Yeah, the amount of stress she put herself under between Wheaties boxes and now this Fulton guy…I could get her so bad if I really wanted to.

"What time is it, did I miss the show?" She looked around nervously again. If I was a doctor I would be prescribing some anti-anxiety drugs about now for this girl. She needed to calm down.

"No, you still don't go on for another hour. You've only been out five, maybe ten minutes." I said looking at the doctor's equipment on the table. I glanced at her, did she know I knew about her little rendezvous in the hallway? Was she playing dumb? No, I didn't think she was that smart.

"Madison, have you seen Scott?" She was worried about something. Maybe she did know that I knew.

"Yeah, he went to get something for you..." She sighed in relief, I continued to smirk a little at the anxiety I could ensue in her.

"Oh, I couldn't find him and I was getting worried." She tried to sound as if she really cared about my dim-witted brother.

"Yeah, I saw him right after I saw you with that guy in the hall." The color from her face disappeared. Yup, she knew now if she didn't know before that I was on to her tricks.

"What did you say?"

"You should pick your make-out spots a little better next time." Okay, so maybe it wasn't the time to joke but it made me feel better.

"Madison, it wasn't what you think it was..." The classic answer when you get caught cheating on someone, you try to explain it wasn't your fault, it wasn't supposed to happen. Please just fess up and admit, you weren't planning it but it did happen and it was of your own doing. I have no sympathy for those who do it to themselves and then try to blame it on everyone else but themselves.

"Oh, no need to explain, as Fulton said, you just need to explain it to the man you intend to marry..." I smiled a little again, not looking in her direction. This was actually turning into more fun than I thought it would be. I had the princess right where I wanted her. Might as well use it to my advantage, I thought with a shrug of my barely covered shoulder. The need for a sweater to cover my skating outfit was quickly becoming a priority, these hallways were cold but I wanted to make her squirm just a little more first.

"Of course, not tonight." I said setting down the instrument I had been distracting myself with, with a clang.

"You didn't tell him?" She nearly fell off the stretcher in mid-sentence. Did it really matter to her that bad or did she just not want her name all over the tabloids for being some scheming, lying tramp.?.

"No." I said simply, looking down the hall to make sure no one was around.

"Madison, I can really explain."

"Save it. First off, call me Maddie, I hate Madison!" Really whoever came up with my name must have been on something. I mean really, what is it a road or a town or something? Please, there are so many better names out there.

"O-okay." I think she was unsure of how to react to my sudden outburst of the real me.

"Secondly, it's up to you really if this secret stays a secret or not." I smiled coyly.

"Madison, I'm not breaking any laws for you." Why did people always think I wanted them to break laws for me…Truthfully I've only broken a few laws myself, why would I want anyone to do it for me. What's the fun in that?

"God, would you let me finish? You're like my Mother!" She really was with her 'Mother knows best attitude.'

"Okay, so first off, I'd like to say, you're the stupidest person I have ever met..." Boy, that felt good to say, she really was something and judging by that kiss in the hall, what was she actually doing with my brother, he couldn't kiss like that if his life depended on it.

"Excuse me..." She cut in again, I really starting to get annoyed with her.

"Shut up, okay... I'm still talking...right, so, yes, you are officially the dumbest girl I think I've met ever. Granted my brother's not a bad guy and you seem like the type that's looking for a knight in shining armor, maybe with lots of money, I haven't worked that one out yet. But still, you're so obviously in love with that Fulton guy... but it's not my business so I'll just leave it at that..." She was either going to hit me or just explode with every word in her vocabulary. She sat quietly, though, as her face continued to redden and puff up at me. She really hated me…She was just going to open her mouth to speak when I cut her off,

"Ahh, I'm still not done. So anyways, I was trying to get away from my Mother while I still can and I was almost to the back door when this, I can't even describe him, piece of a man walks in the back door. I'm immediately taken aback, right." Okay, so I got a little carried away with this guy but what can I say, I really need a date, since I haven't been on one in god knows how long, not to mention the amount of time it's been since I've gotten laid. Yeah, so a meaningless fling is just what I need and this is the guy I want to have it with.

"So, I follow him right and he's like overtaken by these little chicken heads who, I know I can take any day. Just bring them on..."

"Madison, will you get to the point!" There's the out-burst, I knew I'd get it if I just keep talking and pushing her buttons.

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Princess... I can just go tell Scott right now..." I was egging her on again but I really didn't care.

"No, just get to the point okay?" She was back to trying to sound nice.

"Okay, so it wasn't what you were thinking either. I saw Fulton with this guy and asked him if he could pass my number along to the guy." So she finally understood I wasn't there for Fulton, as I got the feeling that's what she thought.

"You like Dean Portman?" The look of confusion on her face was priceless. She was really clueless to everything that happened that afternoon beside what was going on in her life.

"Is that his name?" I asked. Well, it really didn't matter because I would be done with him soon enough anyway. I brushed it off.

"He's an idiot..." Tammy spat as I turned to face her with my brows furred.

"Well, my brother ain't no Albert Einstein." I shot back in retaliation.

"So what does this have to do this me?"

"I figured, when I saw you with Fulton that there was a past, so I listened in and judging by your actions, I'm pretty sure you're friends with that crowd..." I laughed a little as she rolled her eyes,

"What do you want me to do?" She looked away.

"Nothing much, just bring me to some of the peewee hockey practices. You know, introduce me."

"Madison!" What? I thought, she knows them, it's the perfect opportunity to test her commitment to my brother too. Maybe we'll see just how much she loves Scott.

"Well, it's up to you, I mean we could just forget this idea completely." Reverse-psychology. Make her think she has a choice.

"NO...I'll do it." She finally agreed in defeat.

"And you have to stay, during the practice. Oh, and I want one day where we go shopping where I want to go." A little cherry on top of the sundae, I thought with a final giggle.

"Fine." She did not look happy at this but oh well, she shouldn't have been messing around on my brother.

"Good." I turned on my skates and almost skipped down the hall. My plan was working to perfection.

"What did I get myself into?" I heard her ask, rising from the stretcher and heading in the opposite direct.

"Oh, Tammy. This is just the beginning.." I thought out loud to myself, almost falling over my own feet.


	4. Chapter 3: The Agreement

So who is it that decides who gets to be movie stars and celebrities and who gets to sit at home and watch them on TV? Is it the American people? Because if it is, American society has gone down hill. Who can really say, okay your life is worth watching and yours is so boring that people would fall asleep watching it? Yes, I'm still hung up on what makes Tammy Duncan one of those people that everybody just wants to watch. Everyone just wants to know what's going on with her life and what problems she faced but they could care less if the person sitting next to them was dying. I wouldn't be surprised if Tammy and Scott were the next frickin' Nick and Jessica, wouldn't that be the icing on the cake. I can sit home in my spare time and watch them too. Just how I want to spend my Saturday afternoons. Watching them learn about each other and buy needless things while millions of people are starving. Why was I helping her again? Well, I'm not really helping her as much as helping her to self-destruct.

The arena was quiet as the show ended a while ago and I was still sitting here, staring at the stupid ice. The ice that's already been cleaned by the zamboni to get the lines out, so I couldn't even follow them with my eyes to keep myself busy anymore. The lights from the ceiling weren't that fascinating either as I laid back on the bench to take a nap. I closed my eyes for a brief minute to sulk in how horrible my life was and sensed a shadow looming over me, blocking the florescent lights from my closed eyelids. Opening one eye, I was faced with the goofy grin I had connected with humiliation while growing up,

"Scott, is the Princess ready yet so we can leave?" I asked in a rather snotty tone.

"Is that how you say hello to you brother, whom you haven't seen since December?" He asked with a slight grin. I sat up, a hint of distain in my stare,

"Well, I saw you earlier but you were running out the door." I mocked with a slight playful banter.

"I was going to get Tammy some roses to make her feel better. She's been taking her brother's death really hard." I shook my head in acknowledgment and rolled my eyes a little,

"To add to the 12 dozen I saw delivered before?" I asked with a tone. He snorted with laughter,

"Look, Mad, can you just cut her some slack for now? She's really not doing good, no matter what face she's putting on." I groaned again with a sigh and nodded absently,

"I guess, I can try, for you." I bumped shoulders with him as we both laughed a little.

"So how long are you guys staying?" He asked, knowing I was already annoyed at the whole situation as it was,

"Until the wedding, Mom wants to help you guys, considering you've uplifted all the plans in California to bring them out here. Where are we anyways? Canada?" I asked absently looking around at my surroundings,

"No, Minnesota. Close to Canada." He joked. I smiled a little, stopping to stare at him,

"Scotty, are you really happy?" I asked truthfully. He looked down, contemplating the question before looking about at me,

"I am, I feel closer to Tammy than I've felt to anyone in a long time. Except maybe you." He was smiling again.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I." I stared at him for a minute,

"Just don't let Mom run your life." He nodded at my comment.

"At least she still likes me."

"Scott stop playing around." I laughed as he began to tickle me. I fell off the bench to the hard floor but I continued to laugh hysterically until Mom came out.

"What are you two doing?" She asked a bit ashamed of our behavior, especially in public. I continued to laugh as Scott stopped and tried to help me up.

"Nothing, Mom." He got out in between bursts of laughter. She shook her head walking towards the exit as Tammy emerged from the locker room, her bag thrown over her shoulder. I sneered a little at her but I did promise my brother I would try to be nice to her.

Why is it that hotel rooms almost never smell clean? Sure, the sheets and bedspreads are fine but the room as a whole smells of mothballs, disinfectant and some crappy air freshener that isn't working. I was so tired, I really didn't care but apparently my Mother did because she was up half the night, spraying air freshener and scrubbing the bathtub for germs. Did I mention that my Mother is not only insane but she's a neat freak as well? You need to fold your shirts a certain way or they'll get wrinkled, don't ever touch the handle of a public door, you don't know what's on it…I'd be insane too if I followed that many rules a day.

So anyway, she kept me up with her scrubbing and spraying until 2 am and then she was back up at 8 for more of it before we left. The sun can't really filter in through the curtains they always put up so I could have slept all day if it wasn't for her cleaning binge and the alarm going off in my ear. I sat up straight at the noise, my hair still full of hairspray; it stood up on the side I'd been laying on.

"Huh, what?" I asked as my Mother stood fully dressed and ready to leave.

"That alarm has been going off for the past 10 minutes. You could sleep through an earthquake, I swear." She ushered me out of the bed and into the bathroom with a slight groan of annoyance.

"Now, hurry up. We need to get going, Scott's waiting."

The cab ride to Tammy's house was short but exhausting as my Mother tried to show me flower patterns for the table clothes at the reception.

"It's not my wedding." I finally confirmed with her,

"That's right because I'm never getting rid of you with your foul mouth and smoking habits." She groaned as I looked up at her,

"I don't smoke anymore." I acted hurt she would think such a thing.

"Right...I'll believe that when Scott turns gay." She joked, "Here we are...can you try to act like a lady?" I rolled my eyes at that comment and huffed out of the cab towards her house. It was perfect as to be expected with the perfect bay window to the living room and one for her room, no doubt. The little picket fence and the walkway to the house...just perfect. The doorbell rang and a woman I could assume to be her Mother answered the door.

"Hello, you must be the Evans'." She smiled warmly. That's it. My research is done. She got that fake smile from her Mother.

"Yes, I'm Elizabeth and this is my daughter, Madison." She acted like she liked me. What an actress my Mother was becoming. Scott entered from the next room and there were a few hugs exchanged,

"Where's Tammy, dear?" My Mother asked, looking around, no doubt to fawn all over her again.

"She's still sleeping. Madison, would you mind waking her up?" He asked, no doubt, hoping it would be a chance for me to show her how nice I could be. I smiled a little,

"Sure." I said heading up the stairs to find her room.

There were two doors closed in the upstairs hallway so I took a guess that hers was the closer one to the stairs and peeked in. Jackpot, she lay sleeping peacefully in her bed, unbeknown to what I was about to do. Well, hey, the opportunity presented itself and I can't ever say no. Creeping closer to the bed, she turned as if to hear me coming and I stopped to make sure she didn't open her eyes.

"GET UP!" I screamed as I jumped on her with all 110 lbs of my body weight. She jolted awake, grabbing the blankets and looking around nervously. Once she was convinced that there wasn't an invasion, she quickly pulled the pillow over her head and rolled over to get away from me.

"Madison, please." I heard from the deep recesses of the pillow. I smiled a little, she was begging.

"No, you agreed; besides practice isn't until 5:30. I'm just coming to wake you up because Mom and Scott want to take you to look at a place for the wedding." She peeked out from under her pillow and stared up at me with annoyed eyes.

"Oh." she said, pushing me off the bed to the floor as she got up and heading straight into the closet to shut the door.

"Tammy." I was off the floor quickly. Personally, I didn't care whether she locked herself in her closet for the rest of the year but Scott would. I grabbed her arm and pulling her to a seat by the desk.

"She's going to take over my wedding, I know it." Was she actually going to cry about? Maybe this would be fun.

"No, it's fine. Connie and I will be there." I tried to calm her a little while reaching for a pillow behind me. Hey, she did knock me off the bed; you know. I whacked her in the back of her sleepy head, so she fell off the chair and laughed throwing the pillow down and exiting the room. I was going to torment her for a little while longer. Sorry Scott.

Okay, so the one thing I hate more than prissy dumb blondes, are their best friends. So let's really talk about Connie Moreau. So what if she went to Eden Hall academy and has been with the same boyfriend since kindergarten. Her attitude stinks. Want to talk about a Miss know-it-all…and I thought Tammy was bad. No wonder they're best friends.

"What about these flowers Tammy?" please, my ears are going to bleed if I have to hear her give one more suggestion on the wedding detail. She is, after all, the maid of honor but really. One of my Mother is enough for me.

"They're nice, Cons." Tammy nodded, walking away from the table of purple flowers. She obviously didn't like purple. Scott was standing near by looking over some patterns with my mother and making a 'help me' face, as I laughed a little.

"Sorry." I mouthed back, hoping it was some help. He smiled at me before being scolded by our Mother and continuing with her explanation of patterns from her book. I glanced at my cell phone and it was nearly 5:15, the practice would start in 15 minutes. Where was Tammy? I questioned looking around; she wasn't trying to get out of it, was she? I asked myself. No, she was at the other end of the shop, looking at cakes with Connie. It was time to go.

"Tammy?" I asked ever so pleasantly as she looked up at me. I glanced at the clock and she looked before her shoulders visibly dropped.

"We have to go." She said not looking at Connie.

"Where?" She asked curious. I shook my head, not to tell her and Tammy looked up at Connie,

"Madison has to go pick up some skating stuff. I promised I'd give her a ride and it's closes at 5:30."

"Oh, okay. You want me to tell Scott and your Mom?" She asked looking back between us.

"Sure." I decided quickly, pulling Tammy towards the door. There was no way I was missing this practice.


	5. Chapter 4: Dean Portman

Can this girl possible get any slower? I asked myself, waiting for Tammy at the bottom of the stairs of her house. We had to stop to pick up her sweater because it was cold at the arena. What a lot of crap, she was just stalling and I was missing my opportunity to get a date.

"Tammy!" I yelled, starting to get annoyed. She finally appeared at the top of the starts looking confused as to why I was yelling at her. I rolled my eyes, leading the way out of the house to the car. The arena seemed bigger the other night with all the people in it, maybe that's why, I thought heading down the stairs towards the team box. The Peewee hockey team was warming up on the ice. There he was taping some sticks while that Fulton guy was doing a head count.

"Oh my god." I said almost giggling with excitement, wait a minute. I never acted like this. I needed to play it cool. Not let on that I had a remote interest in going out with him. Fulton looked up and realized we were there.

"Oh, well, look what the cat dragged in." He joked as Tammy sneered at him. There was definitely a playfulness going on between them, no matter how much she tried to play, you could tell she was in love with him by the way she looked at him. It was almost as if, if you gave her a chance she'd be over that glass and knocking him over with kisses. Instead she stood her ground and made a hateful glare at him before Portman turned around. Right, stay cool; just act like there's nothing going on. Why is my heart pounding in my chest, never mind that, just sit down and relax, I silently told myself, finding a bench to occupy.

"Get a grip." Tammy mumbled under her breath at me. Was it that noticeable? She turned heading towards Fulton." I hope you're happy."

"Well, not as much with you here but thanks for asking."

"I mean, this." Her hands were flying in the air now and motioned to me. I really didn't care as I sat behind Portman, just staring at him. "She saw us."

"Your problem, not mine." He said heading out onto the ice to start practice.

"Humph." Tammy really was a spoiled brat, her next move of kicking the wall, proved it. She grabbed her foot, jumping around in a circle as I let a small laugh escape my lips.

"When did they make these so hard?" She exclaimed with a huff before plopping down next to me. She sighed deeply, moving her foot around before leaning back on her elbows. That is until she spotted a pretty blonde about my age coming in across the rink. Her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened to her teeth. I knew that look on her face. She was pissed.

"Who's that?" I tried to act casual about it. She glanced at me.

"No one." She didn't look like no one considering the death glare Tammy was sending across the ice.

"You want to take her out back. It'd be real easy two on one but then again, you're a wimp." I laughed slightly with amusement.

"I am not. I've kicked some butt in my days." I laughed harder,

"Whose? Your own?" She pursed her lips in annoyance and returned her gaze to the blonde.

"Okay, okay, I'll believe you kicked your own ass before." I joked.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" She asked. I was annoying her again, I could tell. Okay, I'll let it go, I guess. Well, just one more comment, I thought smiling a little.

"No, I just want to see you kick someone's ass." I turned back to the ice, trying to spot this Dean guy but he must have sat down because I couldn't find him.

"You have such a foul mouth." What did she say? God, she is like a little mini-me of my Mother. I turned back to her.

"Like you've never swore."

"Look, we're here for the practice so just watch it and I'm going to take a nap." She finally shut up before leaning back again on her elbows to relax. I heard Fulton call the team over. The practice was ending.

"Finally." She mumbled softly immediately standing to leave. Not, so fast Princess. I thought, leaning up on the glass.

"Hey, Dean is it?" I asked in my sweetest voice. Okay, so maybe I was overdoing it but I had to make an impression.

"Um...yeah...do I know you?"

"No, I saw you last night. I'm a skater, like Tammy."

"Oh, that sounds cool." He said not really interested. I had to get his attention somehow!

"Hey, do you like Metallica?" I asked as he perked up. I had hit a right button.

"Dude, I love Metallica. They came to the Dome a couple months ago but I couldn't go, I was so bummed." He said almost sad. I smiled a little,

"OH, I absolutely love them too, I've been to see them twice. It was awesome." I grinned away as he started to smile.

"Aren't you that girl from last night? " He asked a little confused. I smiled. He did remember me.

"Yeah, I saw you walking in the back door." I nodded away.

"Oh, I'm thinking of someone else." I frowned a little but continued the conversation.

"Oh, so I gave Fulton my number for you. Did you get it?" I asked hoping he'd say yes. He whipped out his cell phone and started clicking buttons. There must have been 60 numbers of girls' names in there before he got to mine.

"Madison, right?" He asked as I nodded still in shock.

"Yup, I got it." He nodded a little with a proud smile. For a second he almost struck me as being slightly mental with his goofy grin and absent demeanor. I smiled with a little laugh before continuing,

"Well, if you want to hang out anytime just give me a ring, you know?" I asked trying not to sound desperate. He nodded,

"Will do." He said before spotting Fulton leaving the rink.

"I got to go." He told me and he ran after Fulton towards the locker room.

"Oh my god, he is so sweet." I thought with a little smile, definitely not a keeper but cute.

"This is going to be a long week." Tammy groaned walking away from me.

"Hey, you're not leaving me here!" I called after her as she headed but the stairs.

That night I lay awake in my bed at the hotel. My Mother was back to her cleaning antics.

"You know, they hire people to do that!" I grumbled at her, nearly choking on the scent of lemon freshness.

"Well, obviously they don't do it right!" She snapped back, returning to the sink she was scrubbing out. My cell phone started to vibrate against the hard wood of the night table, sending a drumming noise to my ears. I rolled over to pick it up and glanced at the caller ID,

"College of Minn. Minneapolis?" I questioned, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Madison?" A gruff, deep male voice answered me. I sat up in bed,

"Dean? Hi!" I was a little shocked that he'd called me so fast.

"Hey, um...I'm thinking about going down to the park to play a little hockey at the pond, you interested?" He asked seeming a little nervous to talk to me. I smiled a little to myself; he was putty in my hands. Just the way I wanted it.

"That could be cool." I whispered, still smiling coyly.

"Cool, so I'll see you down there?" He asked as I smiled more,

"Maybe." I said as he chuckled nervously.

"Okay." He said a little confused, I was really starting to think he was dropped on his head as a child.

"Bye, Dean." I said hanging up. Playing a little hard to get was always fun. I decided I'd leave the hotel room in a few minutes to find this park. It couldn't be too hard. My Mother appeared from the bathroom a few seconds later with a dust mask on her face at which I let you a scream, falling off the opposite side of the bed to the hard wooden floor. Looking around nervously, I got up and looked at my Mother, who was staring at me as if I was nuts.

"You scared the crap out of me, I thought you were some crazy weirdo who broke in." I gasped, still breathing a little hard. She shook her head at me,

"You need to stop watching all those horror movies."

"Well if you didn't have such an obsession with cleaning, I wouldn't be getting scared. You know, they have people that do that stuff."

"They obviously don't do it right or I wouldn't have to." She said, finally sitting down in the chair as I marched across the room to grab my skates and jacket.

"Where you going?" She asked, "You hardly know this city and what if someone recognizes you." I snorted a little in response,

"Maybe they'll ask me for my autograph? That would be a first." I laughed a little heading for the door. "Besides, I think if I stay here any longer I'll be brain-dead from all the air freshener." I shut the door with that and headed down the stairs to the main entrance before embracing the cold night air of a late April day.

45 minutes later I had circled the town and ended up in the same place I started, right outside the hotel. Standing on the corner, I looked up and down the street to see if I at least saw someone that could tell me in what direction to head but there was no one. Where was the park with the pond that he was talking about? I was completely lost in the worst town in all of the United States. Wrapping my sweater tighter around my shoulders I turned to head back into the hotel when I saw a figure coming towards me in the shadows of the tall buildings. Feeling slightly nervous as to what the outcome of this encounter would bring, I backed up towards the corner. He looked up and I sighed with relief. He smiled; banging the sticks he was carrying on the ground before leaning against them, in an act of coolness, well maybe to him.

"I thought I'd stroll past the only hotel on Main Street and see if you changed your mind about the hockey. I've been waiting at the park for a half an hour." My heart slowed in my chest and I stepped a little closer as he face came into view.

"No, I just..." I said pointing to the corner, a little short winded. He looked around me and smiled a little,

"Oh, I see. Are you working, does this mean I have to pay for you to go to the park with me?" He asked, still smiling. I would have punched him right there but his goofy grin stopped me and I found myself laughing at his stupid joke as well.

"Well, how much you got?" I joked. He was actually going to pull out his wallet before I stopped him.

"I was kidding." I said turning him around to lead me to the park. He laughed again, leading the way.

The park was deserted as we skated around the pond. Okay so there are just some things that people are good at and then there's hockey and me. I couldn't score a goal if you paid me and quite frankly, I was getting a little annoyed that I couldn't score a goal around him. Who invented hockey? It must have been a guy, I thought finally stealing the puck away from him and heading towards his net. He was there in a heartbeat and blocked my chances of scoring a goal.

"You know what, screw this game." I said throwing down the stick he had loaned me and heading off the ice. This was ridiculous, I thought, changing out of my skates. He laughed a little heading towards me and taking off his helmet to look at me. For a moment I actually thought about falling in love with him but the idea escaped my thoughts as soon as the sentence escaped his mouth,

"Well, you just don't like to lose." He said. I finished tying my shoe and stood up to walk away. The park seemed farther away from the hotel then I thought and I looked around a little confused.

"The hotel's that way!" He yelled after me, changing his skates now. I groaned and shuffled back towards him. I hated to admit anyone was right or that I needed the help of anyone but I wasn't going to make it back to the hotel if he didn't walk me so I moved towards him and sighed,

"Dean, will you walk me back to my hotel please?" I asked as he smiled up at me,

"Well, that depends."

"On what?" I questioned. He stood up in front of me.

"On if you let me kiss you or not." He smiled coyly. I scowled a little,

"How dare you!" I said as he smiled down at me, I had to admit he was cute and that's what originally attracted me to him but now, standing here in the moonlight, I wanted to punch his face in.

"Alright, suit yourself. I'm heading out." He said picking up his sticks and skates and heading away from me.

"Hey! How do I know if I kiss you, you just won't leave me here?" I questioned. He smiled,

"I'll walk you first." I mentally debated, well you could just let him lead you back to the hotel and then punch him in the face when you get there. I reasoned for a minute and finally decided to take the offer, following him out of the park. The walk was short but I would have been lost in five minutes with the side streets and shortcuts. The moonlight was soft, not too bright and not too dull either. We reached my door and he turned to me. I looked up into his brown eyes and felt something I hadn't before, fear. A soft hand moved up my back and rested on my cheek and my body shivered with anticipation. Was I going to be a good enough kisser? Had he had better? My worries were something new for me and I hoped they weren't showing on my face. He leaned in slowly and touched him lips to me. The soft smell of Axe body spray filled my nose and I pulled him to me, locking our lips together. The kiss was over as soon as it began but left me feeling empty. No emotion showed on his face as I glanced up at him.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at the practice on Friday?" He questioned. I touched my lips with my finger tips and glanced up at him again,

"Uh-huh." I nodded as he nodded too,

"Goodnight, Madison." I said walking away before I could say anything. This complete went against my rules on dating. What had Dean Portman done to me?


	6. Chapter 5: Mind Games

The night air was cool to my cheeks, granted sitting on the railing of a third story balcony would be enough to send anyone's cheeks flush. Heights never bothered me though, I could look down and instead of being sickened by the fear of falling; I would wonder what the people below were thinking about. Were their lives any easier than mine? They probably all were at this point, considering that my life just went severely down hill. Last night was both the best and worst night of my life. Dean Portman had kissed me. He had really truly been stupid enough to kiss me. Me, Madison Evans. Who did he think he was? I took another drag of my half smoked cigarette and stared down at it for a minute. I really do need to quit, if all this stress doesn't kill me, these will. I shook my head and tossed the rest of the cigarette away, it wasn't worth it. My mind raced with the images of the night before and I tried to comprehend how things got so crazy so fast. I mean I just met this guy and yeah, he's cute and everything but I wasn't looking for a boyfriend. I was looking for something with no strings attached, something I could walk away from in a month and by god, I was still gonna. Dean Portman wasn't gonna get the best of me. I could play his game and dump him on his ass at the end of the month. He'd be sorry he messed with me. That is if I don't fall in love first. No, I can't think that way, there is not falling in love allowed. Like every other guy I've dated, hang with them for a few months: spend their money, lead them on and then dump them like yesterdays news. I'm definitely not the type of girl you take home to Mom, I'm more like the girl you sleep with at a frat party and it's never mentioned again. It was simple; all I had to do was get though this month. There will be no falling in love, that's for sure...I hope!

I rolled over, my eyes coming back into focus. The dingy brown ceiling of hotel room 33C was a pale shade of its usual color and I groaned, glancing at the clock. Already 10am and my Mother hasn't yelled at me to get up? Was I in the right hotel room? What's wrong with this picture? My Mother was nowhere insight and I laid back into the warm comfort of my blanket and pillow, a few more minutes of sleep sounded good about now, since I had to face Dean that night at practice. Why was I going again? Oh, yeah, to break up Tammy and my brother. The sooner that happened the better. I was just about to start dreaming again when the loud "bring" of the telephone sounded in my ear.

"Who would be calling me?" Rolling over in the oversized bed, I reached for the object making the noise. "Hello?"

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Scott's annoyingly cheerful voice sounded on the other end. I held the receiver a few inches away from my ear at the sudden loudness.

"Doesn't anybody sleep anymore?" I was a still a little annoyed that the morning Mom actually left me to sleep; he would call to bug me.

"What's wrong with you?" Scott asked as I groaned into the receiver and lifted myself from the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I rubbed my tired eyes with my free hand.

"I'm tired, Scott!" I said matter-of-factly. He chuckled a little; I could tell me was making fun of me. He always found humor in everything.

"Well, that's obvious." He joked. It was too early for his jokes.

"Can I help you with something? Otherwise I'm going back to sleep!" He groaned from the other end,

"You're always so serious. I was actually looking for Mom." I glanced around again to make sure I hadn't missed her scrubbing something but she was nowhere in sight.

"Nope, not here." The line was quiet for a minute before he silently cursed.

"She doesn't listen to anything I say. Madison, I gotta go before Mom ruins Tammy's dream wedding." He said. I nodded a little, go Mom!

"Sure, whatever, I'm awake now so just forget you even woke me up!" The comment was dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't worry, I will. See you later for dinner?"

"I wouldn't miss it!" Another sarcastic comment. I was full of them today. He laughed,

"See ya, Sis." He said before hanging up. I definitely going to get him back for this one.

"Oh, my god... and the way he handled those kids." Before I knew it Tammy was picking me up from the hotel and my mouth was getting me into trouble." He is just _so_ cute."

"Maddie, can you give it a rest, please?" I sulked down in my seat; maybe someone else didn't get enough sleep either. It could be possible that Scott dragged her out of bed to go on a wild goose chase looking for my crazy Mother, who at the present moment was making arrangement to have a cake that was in the shape of a large bird to be delivered to the wedding reception.

"Why are you so grumpy today?" The thought escaped my lips before I thought about it,

"Nothing." She was totally lying. Something was definitely up. Maybe my little plan was starting to work. Facing Fulton Reed everyday could get on your nerves when you keep trying to deny your feelings. She began to gaze off into space, completely forgetting I was even in the car.

"Hello? Earth to Tammy?" I yelled, waving in her direction.

"What?" She said realizing we were passing the arena. She took the turn and I let out a small yelp, grabbing the door.

"What are you crazy?" I asked breathing heavy, god, she starts daydreaming and then tried to kill me. She didn't even respond and parked, heading into the arena. I glanced back at the car and sighed,

"Crazy B…." I didn't finish it, heading into the arena.

Fulton and Portman were waiting as we entered the arena, and we both took a deep breath in, looking at the other for the reason they were nervous

"What?" She asked walking ahead of me. I met Portman's eyes and quickly looked away, he was egging me on to say something

"Oh, right on time." Fulton said acting like he was having fun. Tammy looked on, waiting for him to speak with her usual "I'm better than you" attitude. He smiled, obviously unfazed by her actions.

"Already getting an attitude?" He questioned. She quickly dropped the stance,

"Look, I can just leave."

"No, we agreed." I reminded her giving her the evil eye. Portman moved behind me as I felt his body heat radiate unto mine.

"Fine." She finally said looking at Fulton, who was still smiling,

"Here's your list of things to get done." He handed her a piece of paper.

"No, Madison, we're not doing this." She looked over the list and looked at me,

"It doesn't look that hard." I said taking the list from her hand and glancing at it.

"Madison, my nails, the wedding is in three weeks, I can't ruin them now." Her and her stupid nails. I had to worry about this amazingly gorgeous guy, who was standing three feet behind me and breathing down my neck.

_Things to do:_

_1) Tape all replacement sticks and sand._

_2) Mop all steps_

_3) Clean all benches_

_4) Clean out storage closet_

"Don't you have cleaning staff to do this stuff?" I asked, a little confused. Fulton looked over to me, leaving his stare on Tammy.

"No, they were cut out of the budget to get new uniforms for the teams. Of course you two wouldn't know what it's like to have to make sacrifices." Fulton said looking more at Tammy than me. She looked away.

"Of course you two can just leave if it's not your thing."

"No, we want to help." I jumped in.

"Good. Portman, show them where the cleaning stuff is." He said walking away. Tammy began to stomp off, leaving me alone with Portman.

"I know where it is!" She yelled pushing me out of the way. Something was still bothering her.

"What's her deal?" His voice sounded in my ear. I turned and met his gaze. It was piercing and I turned away fast.

"Oh, just some pent up frustration." I shrugged. I caught my arm with his and we walked towards the direction Tammy head in.

"I smell like mothballs." She whined after 45 minutes of cleaning. Can I just give up and get out of here now? I thought with a groan.

"It could be worse. They could have asked us to clean the bathrooms." I joked,

"Next time." Fulton chimed in from the ice.

"Just make it all go away." I laughed a little at her comment,

"Are you always so self-pitying?"

"What?" She acted a little shocked I'd ask such a question. You know I'm not one to hold back.

"You act like the world owes you something. God, has my brother really rubbed off on you that much? Is everything always about you?"

"I just don't think this whole situation is fair." She walked away from me quickly, not wanting to discuss it further, I guess.

"Well, it's not fair to my brother...or Fulton." I commented after her.

"I think you're full of it." She moved to the next staircase to get away from me.

"Suit yourself. You'll regret it later." Looking down and continuing to scrub, I felt someone approach me from behind. His shadow loomed over me as I tried to pretend not to notice.

"You really don't have to do all that, Fulton's just trying to get back at Tammy and make her see what she's missing."

"Scrubbing floors and benches, I'm surprised she's not crawling back by now." I joked, dumping the brush into the bucket and standing up to walk away. He touched my arm,

"Hey, did I do something wrong Tuesday night?" He asked. I looked down at his hand on my arm and back at him,

"Dean, I'm not really interested in having a boyfriend right now. I just need some space from this little thing you think we have going on." He smiled a little,

"Obviously you think we have something going on as well, or you wouldn't have called it that."

"Dean, the fact remains, I'm going back to California after the wedding, so you can't fall in love with me." He chuckled,

"What makes you think I would do that?"

"You wouldn't have kissed me like that on Tuesday if you weren't thinking about it." The tension between us was thick as he moved towards me. I stared at his face as it came closer and before I could protest, his lips were crushed against mine. I pushed on his chest and he backed off, looking down at me,

"Will you go out with me tomorrow night?" He asked softly. I smiled a little, this is what I wanted but now my feelings were confused.

"I...I guess." I stammered. He smiled again and let go of me, leaving me again to my thoughts.

"Good." And he was gone around the corner to follow Fulton. Damn him!


	7. Chapter 6: Forming a Plan

So what do you wear on a real date? Wait, I'd been on a real date before, I have to have been. Me, Madison Evans had to have been on a real date before. Yes, with Lucas whatever his name was...but no, that was just making out in the back of his car. Right so I went on a date with Kyle Lewis...no, that was just necking behind the bleachers while coach went on a wild tangent about sit spins. I can't believe my first actual date is going to be with Dean Portman. Why did I say yes again, oh right because he had just kissed me, the best kiss I'd ever had I might add, and I was out of my mind! God, this is horrible, I have absolutely nothing to wear, this has never happened to me before, I always have a snappy comeback or a daring outfit to scare all the women still living in the 50's with their cover your ankles attitude. Oh, I really have nothing to wear, I turned around from my mental fight with myself to see to Tammy and Fulton seating together, I mean actually sitting together and having a civil conversation. Are my eyes deceiving me? No, and she's not snapping back like her usual self. I stepped closer to listen in.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it was a cruel thing to do to make you do all that." He said. She didn't respond, just sat quietly and stared at the ice.

"I must seem like such an ass right now but I just came over to tell you that you and Madison are welcome here anytime. I acted like a jerk and I'm sorry." He said walking away quick before she could say anything. She stood quickly to follow him and I stepped out behind her,

"Guess what?" I asked, trying not to act excited but losing the battle as I bounced on the balls of my feet.

"What?" She asked still really distracted.

"I have a date next Friday with Dean!" Okay, so I was a little loud and then I did something so unimaginable, I grabbed her into a hug and squeezed really tight.

"Madison, you're going to choke me!" Tammy whispered, patting my back slightly.

"That's a good thing?" She joked when I let her go. Was is a good thing, I guess, it's what I wanted originally, another name to add to my list of men.

"Yes, it's a great thing and guess what?" I shouted again, not realizing how loud I was being.

"What? Don't you want to go?" she asked starting up the stairs.

"This means that we don't have to do this stuff anymore." I said racing her up the stairs. Her face was priceless just like I knew it would be, she had gotten attached again and I was taking away her reason to see him. I suddenly felt a little bad, she looked like she was going to cry but sucked it up and turned back towards the ice one last time. Was she saying goodbye?

"What do you mean I don't have to bring you here for practices?" She asked, a trembling in her voice. Was she thinking about Fulton again?

"Yeah, but you still owe me that shopping trip and I think we should go on Friday so I can find something to wear on this date!" Tammy sighed a little, leading me out of the arena.

It was a nice day, the following Friday, the sun shining as we drove around in Tammy's convertible. I leaned back in the seat and stared upwards, hoping for some sort of sign on how the night was to go but there was nothing up prefect, cloudless sky. Maybe is spoke for itself. Tammy looked deep in thought as we continued down the main road and to the edge of town in search of the small vintage shop I had located in the phone book.

"It has to be around here somewhere.." I mumbled out loud. searching the side streets for any sign of a clothing store that carried clothes I would actually wear. There was nothing out here but trees and road, I was beginning to think we should turn back when I noticed a sign coming up on the right side of the car.

"What's that?" I wondered out loud again, Tammy stopping at the sign. It was hanging outside an old gate. 'Timeless Beauty Crafts' was the sign name and Tammy seemed to want to stop and check it out so we pulled over and decided to walk in. There was a fair amount of cars in the driveway to a beautiful house. It was two stories high with two beautiful picture windows in the front and a wrap around porch leading to the lake out back. The porch was lined with chairs for sale, really beautiful. Tammy stopped fast halfway there and stood still, almost unable to move.

"This is my house." She said silently. What was she talking about, she didn't owe a house. Her and Scott hadn't even decided where they were going to live yet.

"Tammy? What's wrong?" I asked grabbing her arm with slight force to pull her forward, what was wrong with this girl, just when I was starting to like her.

"I need to get out of here." She said turning to run.

"Tammy?" I turned quickly, feeling like I was suddenly stuck in the middle of something much bigger than I anticipated. Fulton stood on the porch and watched as Tammy began to run for the car. What was going on? Before I could make sense of anything, Fulton pushed passed me and chased her, grabbing tightly unto her arm, turning her to him.

"Tammy?" He yelled again. I just stood there not sure what to do.

"What is this Fulton, a joke? Are you trying to make this into some kind of love story?" She was red in the face and ready to explode, I had never her seen her lose her cool the way she was now.

"What? No, I made you a promise and I fulfilled it!" He yelled back. "I could never move in, so I made it my store." The tears were coming down her face.

"Why? Why did you do this? You should have just let the past die!" Here we go again, they were getting into another fight. What was up with these two, couldn't they just ever get alone and admit they were still in love with each other. Wait, did I just admit that, that the woman that was supposed to marry my brother in less than a month was now in the arms of her ex-lover and I had no intention of breaking it up or telling anyone what i saw.

"Because I love you!" He yelled grabbing her face. "I love you, Tammy." He whispered again. Okay, so I realized in that second that no matter how much I didn't want to admit it, I did indeed have a heart and it was breaking for these two in front of me. Why couldn't they just admit what they wanted, it would be so much easier. I felt a ping of jealously for what they have hit me and before i could address it, Tammy was pushing Fulton away and running for the car.

"I have to go." She yelled walking quickly to the car. I ran after her, passing the heart broken Fulton,

"I'm so sorry, Fulton.." I said just loud enough for him to hear. He nodded appreciatively in passing and I ran to catch up to Tammy.

"Tammy! Open the door!" I shouted at the top of my lungs banging on her shut bedroom door. I could hear sniffling and whimpering but nothing else coming from the room. Come on, would she just open the door and talk to me, I really didn't care whether she was in love with Fulton and not my Brother at this point, I just wanted to know what was going on. She hadn't said a word the entire ride back to her house

"Tammy! I swear I'll tell Scott everything I know if you don't open this door!" I yelled pounding once again against the hard oak frame. The door swung open and she appeared, looking tired and her eyes red, I almost felt sorry for her. She backed away to let me in and I moved into her room. It was dimly lit with the setting sun, she hadn't bothered to turn on a light and the room was a mess as if she had been digging in the drawers of the dresser looking for something. The sound of the door shutting turned my attention back to her as she made her way back to the bed to curl up into a ball.

"Tammy, I know we're not friends. Hell, I know you hate me and you have every reason to. I've tried every excuse in the book to get you to not marry my Brother but that was before I came here. Before I saw all this." I said motioning to the room with my hands. "Tammy, everyone here loves you, You have a past here, and I think maybe your future is here too." She didn't turn to look at me but the cry had stopped.

"I don't know what happened between you and Fulton and I don't expect you to tell me but I know if I guy loved me that much I wouldn't care who stood in the way of us being together." I finished my sentence and turned to leave, it was obvious she didn't care what I thought. Why would she, I'm just Madison Evans. I reached the door and extended my arm to grip the knob when her voice cracked,

"I didn't mean for this to happen...You have to believe that I love Scott, I would never hurt him."

"That's you problem, Tammy. You care about everyone but yourself and you hurt the people closest to you when you do that!" I said spinning around to face her.

"I know, I just don't know what to feel. I love him but I can't. It's been 7 years, I've made so many promises to so many people, I told him to go on! I didn't want him to do this!" She started to scream and cry at the same time, I had never seen her this way before. Before I could duck she had flung a picture at the wall next to me and it smashed into a million pieces, collecting at the base of the wall. And I thought I had anger problems. She collapsed at the end of the bed in a pile and started to cry hysterically into her sweatshirt. I was unsure of what to do, was I supposed to act like the supportive sister, was I supposed to turn and walk out, leaving her to her own thoughts. This is when I truly felt like my life had changed. The old Madison would have turned and walked out on this girl who felt like everyone in the world was against her but when I looked down at her, I saw myself, I saw someone who needed a friend. So without thinking I placed the bag I had collected from our shopping trip down on the chair next to the door and knelt down next to her, placing a comforting hand on her back. Her tear stained eyes looked up at me and without saying a word we had an understanding.

"I miss him so much, Madison!" She cried as I let her have my shoulder. The picture that collected at the bottom of the wall was that of a group of teenage kids in green and yellow hockey gear.

The night air hit my bare legs as I exited the Duncan house at a quarter after 7 that night. Whoever said that dressing up for a girl was wearing a dress was seriously mistaken, I mean, my butt is freezing and where is he? He said 7, he's already late and on top of that, did I mention I'm freezing? Just as I was about to rush back into the warmth of the house an old beat up Chevy Impala turned the corning playing some hard rock music I didn't recognize. It stopped right in front of me and the drive leaned over the passenger's seat to smile his goofy grin at me.

"Move over, Romeo." I snipped opening the door for myself as he didn't seem to be getting out to help me in.

"You look nice tonight." He mentioned casually, pulling away from the curb. Was that supposed to be a compliment? I shrugged at him,

"Thanks. Look we need to talk..." I turned slightly in my seat to face him as he drove. "It seems we have something in common.." I started as a smiled played on his lips.

"Oh, Yeah and what would that be?" I rolled my eyes a little, how did anyone have a conversation this guy.

"Look, your friend is in love with my friend and they need to just admit it so everyone else can get on with their lives." He smiled a little bit more,

"So you really like me?" He smiled away as I rolled my eyes again, leaning back in the seat.

"If I was going to talk in metaphors I'd let you know." I mumbled, covering my eyes. God, he was so thick! Maybe I'll just save this conversation for later.


	8. Chapter 8: You and Me

So a date with Dean Portman wasn't all that bad. All through dinner we talked about our childhoods and how we got into figure skating and hockey. We talked about how Dean ended up in Minnesota and a few other mindless chat conversations to pass the time. The night was dropping in temperature exponentially by the time we exited the last movie of the evening. I shivered; already cold from the dress I had chosen to wear out and with out missing a beat Dean wrapped his leather jacket around my shoulders to block the cool breeze from my skin.

"Thanks." I mumbled not knowing how to handle this new situation. I had never had a guy treat me like this, this well in fact. Most of the time, they knew I was using them and didn't bother to try to impress me but this one was different. It kind of made me feel bad that I wasn't intending on this going anywhere but the few more feet to my hotel.

"My car's right there…." He mumbled to the parking lot behind the building.

"I'd rather walk…" I said without a care in the world. Looking up at the night sky, I watched a shooting star pass overhead and my breathe caught in my throat.

"Dean, look!" I practically yelled, pulling him to my side while continuing to point in the direction the star had went.

"What…" He mumbled, search the crystal clear sky for whatever had caught her attention.

"Oh, nothing, I guess. It was like, a shooting star…" Her voice was still confused at the event. You would never see anything like that in California, or at least she had never taken the time to look for one.

"Yeah, those are happening more frequently lately, I think there might be a meteor shower this week.." He commented, looking back down to the girl on his side. I gripped his firm upper arm in my tightened fists. Looking up at him, his eyes looked back down at mine. I broke the gaze before he could lean down towards me.

"Well, I should be heading back before my Mother flips.." The comment was short and to the point before he reached out and took my hand in his.

"Hey, I'm not going to let you walk the streets of Minneapolis alone at night.." He softly whispered, his face a mere few centimeters from my face.

"it's okay, I think I can take care of myself.." I whispered back, not moving from his unrelenting stare.

"Stop looking at me that way.." I mumbled.

"Like what way?" His face told the story that he was messing with me.

"Like that, like you're falling in love with me.."

"Why?" He asked, all the serious he could muster in the sentence.

"Because you can't.." I finally pulled away and began to walk down the lonely sidewalk towards my hotel. I was more knowledgeable of the area now that I could have probably made it back to place without an escort.

"Why can't I?" I heard him call from behind me. I just shook my head, hearing me heels click softly away at the hard pavement of the broken rock. "Hey, what about my jacket?" He yelled again down the vacant street.

"I'll bring it back to you tomorrow.." I promised, wrapping the piece of material tighter around my shoulders.

The walk was cold and lonely but the lights of the hotel weren't far ahead. I sighed, climbing the front steps and into the lobby before a shriek of excitement was heard from the far corner of the quiet lobby.

"Madison Lynn Evans!!!" My Mother could always be counted on to ruin my almost perfect night. "Where have you been?" Her voice coming out in a yell.

"Calm down, Mom, I told you I was going out tonight.." Moving towards the elevator was harder than I thought with my Mother still following behind me.

"And where did you get that jacket? It looks like some gang member's jacket! How dare you go out dressed like that! That dress is something else we need to discuss, it looks like a form of night wear." Her voice was really starting to annoy me by the time the elevator stopped on our floor. I'm sure the whole hotel now knew of my personal life.

"Mom, can you just cut it out! I'm back, I'm not hurt, it was just a date.." I yelled before swinging open our door.

"A date?! No wonder you dressed like that…" She had no idea how much her words hurt me but I tried to ignore them, making my way to the bathroom and slamming the door behind me. She continue to yell outside my door for another 5 minutes before she realized I wasn't listening anymore. I felt the tears hot and fresh on my eyes lids before they actually fell to my anger reddened cheeks with a hot burn. How could she treat me this way, my own Mother. How can Mother's treat their daughter's anyway but with love and respect. She'd always treated me like I was the accident, that Scott was the perfect child, the star athlete and the only one she really loved. I leaned my head against the cold tile of the bathroom wall, letting my tears come down in waterfalls now. Turning on the water to the newly scrubbed shower, I stripped off my clothes and climbed in to let the water mask my tears that were now coming in sobs. I just didn't understand her and it was obvious she didn't understand me or even care to try.

By the time I emerged from the steamy shower, my Mother had fallen asleep in the bed closest to the door. I quickly grabbed my cigarettes from my knapsack and opened the patio door to sit out in the night air. The cold always helped me think when I was really upset. Taking a small object from the flip top box, I quickly held it between my lips to light it. Who the hell cares if I die of lung cancer, who one would, that's who. The familiar taste lingered in my mouth as I held in the first breathe.

"Phhss.." The noise caught me off guard at first, causing me to almost drop my cigarette in my lap. Looking over the railing, Dean Portman's smiling face looked up at me.

"Dean, what are you doing here?" I asked, shocked and at the same time trying to hide the small stick from his view.

"Well, you said you'd see me tomorrow and it's 12:01, I couldn't wait any longer…" He mumbled. The gesture in itself was enough for my heart to melt at the sight of him but then I glanced back into the room behind me.

"You have to get out of here before you wake my Mother up… She's already in a crabby mood…" I motioned behind me.

"Let her wake up…" He mumbled, calling for someone I couldn't see below me.

"I have a surprise for you…" He whispered, a small smile forming on my lips.

"What?" I asked, closing the door behind me all the way shut. A few guys with a couple guitars and some drums came out from below the balcony.

"Dean, what is this?" I asked, feeling a blush start in my cheeks.

"Well, these are some of my friends from over at the college, I asked them if they could help me tell you how you make me feel…How I feel about you tonight." He mumbled. Once they were set up, they started playing the most beautiful song I had ever heard and I didn't even really like slow songs.

_what day is it  
and in what month  
this clock never seemed so alive  
I can't keep up  
and I can't back down  
I've been losing so much time_

I looked down at the man standing next to the small band playing this song for me. I quickly put out my cigarette and heading back through the room and down the stairs as fast as I could.

"Dean…" I mumbled, coming out the front door and running around to that side of the building.

I spotted him as soon as I came around the building and he held out a handful of roses.

"Dean, what is this? I thought we agreed.." I mumbled. He pulled me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist and beginning to sway to the music with me.

_all of the things that I want to say  
just aren't coming out right  
I'm tripping inwards  
you got my head spinning  
I don't know where to go from here_

_  
_The wind had died down in the cold night air but the chill was still there. I didn't feel it though, looking up into his eyes was all the warmth I needed.

_cause it's you and me and all of the people  
with nothing to do  
nothing to prove  
and it's you and me and all of the people  
and I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you  
_

"Dean, I can't…" I started but he silenced me with the most passionate kiss I had ever felt in my life. The words of the song sounding in the back of my mind.

_there's something about you now  
I can't quite figure out  
everything she does is beautiful  
everything she does is right _

you and me and all of the people  
with nothing to do  
nothing to lose  
and it's you and me and all of the people  
and I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you

The song was coming to an end as our kiss ended, the feeling coming back in my feet. The pavement was cold on my bare feet as I looked up at him, a shiver escaping my body.

"You cold?" He asked, I nodded before he picked me up over his arms and began to walk back around the building to the front door. He placed me back on the carpeted steps of the front door.

"Dean, I…" He stopped me by placing a finger over my lips,

"Don't." He smiled a sad smile, "Just, don't, Madison… Just let us enjoy this moment…" He mumbled before placing another kiss to my chilled lips.

"Goodnight, Madison.." He mumbled, turning to walk away, down the darkened street.

"Goodnight, Dean.." I mumbled before returning through the hotel doors.

* * *

Well, I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in like forever, I got a spert of energy and decided to run with it, if I get few reviews I might update again soon, so let me know what you think and please take a look at my other stories as well as they almost all tie together. 


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